Interviewing

What’s the truth about lying on résumés? Almost half of workers (46%) polled by staffing firm OfficeTeam said they know someone who included false information on a résumé, a 25-point jump from a 2011 survey.

San Francisco has become the latest jurisdiction to enact a law banning employers from asking job applicants about their salary histories. The San Francisco “Parity in Pay” Ordinance will go into effect July 1, 2018. Penalties for noncompliance will go into effect a year later.

Interview questions need not be tricky. But they do need to reveal the character of what might be the next person on your payroll. Here’s a list of questions you should consider asking your next candidate, and what his or her answers might reveal.

If your organization has created standardized, objective processes for hiring or promotion, make sure you deviate from them as little as possible. Doing so without a good, contemporaneous explanation may result in expensive litigation.

Job applicants want to come work for you, but you’re not making it easy. That’s one of the conclusions to be drawn from a new CareerBuilder.com survey addressing how the candidate experience could be improved.

If you have employees in New York City, be aware of two new laws affecting your operations there. The first new law bars you from asking applicants about their prior compensation history. The second requires you to provide contract workers with a written agreement.

By now, managers and HR reps probably know to avoid writing anything on applications or résumés that could be interpreted as discriminatory based on race, sex, religion, age or disability. It’s also unwise to attach sticky notes that imply bias.

Employment applications may seem innocuous, but they contain a number of minefields of which employers should be aware. In general, avoid asking applicants questions that elicit information that cannot be considered when making a hiring decision.